The NT Intervention

The NT Intervention

Much has been written about the NT Intervention with passionate supporters both for and against. As often is the case the divide is loosely between left and right political views, with Bess Price, Marcia Langton and Noel Pearson apparently in favour while many from the left are against.

This week wee see an interesting interview with Noel Pearson where he contrasts his work at Cape York with the Family Responsibility Commission (FRC) with the NT Intervention. Pearson is all about replacing welfare, mutual obligation and indigenous employment. And his model involves 'intervening' in people's lives. But he doesn't like the blanket approach applied in the NT. His views are especially interesting as he appears to maintain support for the NT intervention but recognises its limitations and weaknesses. And the lessons to be learnt.

That's the sign of someone worth listening to. So many commentators take a political line based on the left v. right view of the world, regardless of the evidence.

Bilingual Education - Does it work ?

Bilingual Education

If there is one topic that divides opinion it's the value of bilingual education. A stark contrast between two opinions that both claim their approach produces better outcomes for indigenous Australians.

Does education in an indigenous language return benefit of self-esteem and pride ? Does it empower communities ? What other benefits are there ?

Or is it another hurdle to prevent indigenous Australians from fully participating in a modern society ? When we say 'education is the key' do we really mean education in the culture and language of whitefellah Australia

Is there value in supporting a language with 300 speakers ?

The debate continues.........

And the right-wing view from Bolt.

Urban v. Regional v. Remote - different needs, different outcomes

Urban v. Regional v. Remote

Finally an article pointing out that indigenous Australia is made up of urban, regional and remote communities, and that the needs of each group vary significantly.

Kartiya (Whitefellahs) in Remote Communities

Kartiya (Whitefellahs) in Remote Communities
Or
How Good Intentions dont always work out...... 

An excellent article about one woman's experience working in a remote community. The story is one of frustration but recognises there are successes as well.

Humbugging

It's not often that the government will look at issues in indigenous communities and implement a tailored solution. Most of the time government policies are one-size-fits-all and involve handing out vast quantities of money for programs that may or may not benefit those in need.

Even identifying issues unique to indigenous communities is fraught with problems as it may be seen as racist. That's why I like this article.

It talks about the practice of humbugging. Where indigenous people call on relatives and friends to lend them money. Now that sounds like a reasonable practice, after all we teach our kids to share as soon as they can talk.

Humbugging however extends the concept of sharing, or the indigenous concept of demand sharing. Demand sharing is the practice of sharing whatever you have with anyone who is without. A custom practiced over thousands of years that ensured communities survived. With the arrival of welfare, gambling and alcohol however demand sharing becomes perverted.

Individuals who spend their welfare benefits unwisely, turn to more responsible relatives for a 'loan'. Those responsible relatives havent wasted their income. And the relative is obliged to share what they have. Of course this is where demand sharing breaks down. The 'saversw' never manage to save any money, and those addicted to gambling or alcohol continue to waste their income as they have access to alternative sources of money.

But now the federal government are listening to communities that actually want their money attached to 'Basics' cards so responsible citizens don't have 'surplus' cash to share or lend money to humbuggers. What a great idea.

The Cape York Experiment

Since July 2004 Noel Pearson has been working on a new model of indigenous governance in Cape York via his Cape York Institute. His dream is to enable his people to 'walk in both worlds' by ensuring they are educated in whitefellah ways while retaining their indigenous culture.

He is a very determined man with no doubt about his ability, and no doubts about what is required to develop a thriving indigenous community.

This page is dedicated to monitoring his progress. Surely after 8 years we should have some reliable data to compare to other indigenous communities, and then to the rest of Australia.

Personally I admire Pearson and everything he is trying to do. He faces up to issues and acknowledges the roles that both indigenous, non-indigenous and government have in improving outcomes for his people.

His key tenets are :

• Using direct instruction as a model for schooling
• Money Management Programs
• Alcohol Restrictions
• Income Management
• Moving away from Welfare back to self-reliance

Part of the model requires the development of indigenous enterprises. Warren Mundine outlines why that's so necessary here.

Direct Instruction
This is a model of teaching that uses scripted lessons. It is a very structured and involves consistent repetition. Teachers generally dont like it as it devalues their role as educators. What it does do is enforce basic skills. As a teacher I like the fact it provides structure and a step-by-step approach to skills development. It also provides consistent and continual assessment data. However it's not suited to open-ended tasks such as essay writing for example.

Chris Sarra (who developed the Stronger Smarted model at Cherbourg) is not keen on Pearson's Direct Instruction. He feels it is a remedial program at best. Maybe it is but if it can get kids to progress to achieve benchmarks and improvements beyond that of other indigenous schools then it's worth rolling out beyond Cape York.

Contrast that with this report that trumpets the claims from Cape York. Surely we can get some independent analysis of results given all of the testing they do at Cape York.

And Pearson's reply (Nov 2012). He make bold statements about NAPLAN results. I assume Chris Sarra would question the amount of money provided for the program.

March 2013 - Queensland Goverment pulls funding for Cape York.  And Noel Pearson isnt happy. The best thing is that there is finally an independent evaluation of the program. I'm still trying to find a copy of it.

April 2013 - Noel Pearson argues that the best way to improve teaching is to focus on "the instructional skills of teachers." Veiled support of his Direct Instruction model , arguing that it is the best model for the students at Cape York.

Centralised or Localised ?

Another ongoing debate in indigenous affairs. Should services to remote communities be be centralised or localised ? What is the best way to deliver services ?

Fred Chaney is someone I trust so when he suggests a new model of localised authorities to "boost community participation and accountability" then I take notice. Read about his new plan here.

At first I thought 'Here we go again. Another new model that will solve everyone's problems'. After the Federal Government had decided to establish service 'centres' it seemed that centralised services under the control of super-councils was the way forward. Is that happening ? Is it working ?

Well Fred appears to think there is a better way. And his efforts to promote indigenous well-being have been relentless.